Episode 5 Stay or Go? When to quit your job

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Welcome to Unstuck and Unstoppable,

the podcast for ambitious female

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leaders who want to create more impact,

income, and influence in their careers.

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feel connected to their passion

and purpose, but without

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selling out or burning out.

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I'm Sarah Archer, a leadership coach

and career strategist, helping women

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like you thrive in leadership roles

while staying true to your values.

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I'm the founder of CareerTree

Coaching and have over 15 years of

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coaching experience and significant HR

leadership experience to share with you.

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I know as a female leader it can

be hard to find time to focus

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on your career aspirations.

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The day job can be all consuming.

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Plus, no matter how senior you are,

there are always going to be times

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when you feel stuck, when you have

self doubt, or feel like an imposter.

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And that's where unstuck

and unstoppable comes in.

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Each week I'll be sharing practical

strategies, insightful interviews and

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inspiring stories to help you boost

your confidence, lead with purpose

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and achieve sustainable success.

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If you're ready to stop playing

small and unlock the incredible

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potential you have within you and feel

unstoppable, you're in the right place.

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Let's get started.

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Welcome to episode five.

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I'm so glad you're here.

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Today's topic is one that I know a

lot of people wrestle with, , when's

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the right time to leave my job?

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Should I stay or should I go?

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, And, that decision is one that can

end up being a circular question that

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can keep you awake at night or wake you

up early because you don't have that

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clarity around, when's the right time.

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And it can sometimes feel

a bit paralyzing as well.

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There are some times in your career

when it's very clear that you need to

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go, so if something's toxic, so you've

got toxic colleagues, toxic boss, toxic

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culture, or, your job is affecting

your mental health or your confidence.

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Or you can't see how the overload is ever

going to end where you can feel there's

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no change, it's just going to get worse.

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when you've got that amount of red

flags going on, that you've got to

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make a decision to leave because

otherwise it's going to seriously

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impact your health and your confidence.

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It'll be harder to leave,

but often it's less clear.

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So it might be that you're

just feeling a bit better.

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bored in your job, maybe everything

feels a bit too easy, maybe you're,

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, plateauing, you feel like you've

achieved everything you set out to

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achieve, , or maybe the perks are too

good and you're thinking, well, I'd

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be mad to give this up, wouldn't I?

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I've got the great flexibility, or the

pay is amazing, or,, something else.

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Or maybe you're somebody who

likes variety and newness and

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it just feels like it's more of

the same going on in your role.

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Or you're questioning yourself

about, , am I ready for that next role?

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Can I step up?

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Can I take on that bigger,

more challenging role?

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And all of those questions or those

feelings can lead to, well, it's okay.

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There's nothing really

pushing me to leave.

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So therefore, I've got to

wait for something to pull me.

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And if neither of those things

are present, then you're in

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this no man's land of.

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Well, I'll just carry on.

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What I've got now is a bit of a

diagnostic that you can do to help you,

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feel, dog is always barking when I'm

on live, to feel, that you're taking

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some control and some agency and you can

then make the right decision for you.

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, first thing to do is to ask

yourself what is actually wrong

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in my current job at the moment?

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What's the thing that's missing or

the thing that I'm not enjoying?

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Be really specific, really drill

down into what is going on so you

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can understand what is creating this

sense of dissatisfaction that might

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be a indicator it's time to go.

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That's the first thing to do, work out

what is it, , that's not there or that's,

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, not working for you at the moment.

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Then you want to think about,

okay, is this a real issue that's

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not going to get any better?

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Or is it something that I could

take some action on to improve

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or to change my situation?

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, if you're feeling a bit like you're

plateauing and you've got no stretch,

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, maybe it's looking, is there a

project that I would like to lead?

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Or is there a piece of work that

I would like to get my into?

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Or are there training or learning

opportunities that I could push for,

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or is there a chance to step up or

act up in some way or take on a, more

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challenging role within my team?

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Can I identify the kind of challenge that

would be something that would make me want

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to get up and go to work in the morning?

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can I see there are stretch

opportunities , in the role.

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And this is also where you

can then do a bit of scanning.

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So you could scan in the organization,

are there vertical or lateral moves

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available that would make me excited?

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Because if it's quite a flat structure,

and people tend to stay in their roles,

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, and you know that that's actually

something that you want is to move up in

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your career and you can't see how that's

possible, then that's obviously going to

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be an indicator for change in some way.

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And then you could also ask

yourself the question, well,

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what would leaving give me?

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that I can't get.

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In a way?

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What are the pros of going?

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And then also thinking

about what would I miss?

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Because there are going to be things

that, , are positive about what you

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do, or your organization or your team

and thinking about trying to weigh up.

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What it would give me, but

actually what would I lose?

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Because any kind of decision to

go, you're saying yes to something,

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but no to something else.

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It's understanding what are

the compromises that I'd be

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making if I was going to move.

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Or if I was going to stay.

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Then you can do some check ins.

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The first check in would

be, what's my energy like?

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Because any kind of

change requires energy.

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, if you're going to start searching

for a new job, or you're going to

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push for promotion internally, that is

going to require that a certain amount

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of energy and appetite for change.

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And you need to do a kind of check in.

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What do I feel like now?

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What else is going on in my life

that, I might need energy for?

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And is this the right time?

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So that can be quite helpful.

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The second check in is

to do a values check in.

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, being aligned to our values

will bring us great satisfaction

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and fulfillment in our careers.

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But if something changes in our values

or the organization's or team's values,

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then that can create a misalignment.

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You want to do a check in, and

it's quite useful to do a check

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in thinking about role, person, i.

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e.

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you, and organization.

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, if the organization's values have

changed in some way, so maybe there's

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been a leadership change or maybe the

organization is moving in a direction

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that now doesn't sit with your values,

then , you can understand why that

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might be causing dissatisfaction and

it might be that means it's a time

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for a change of organizational sector.

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If, the role, so your values, , don't

seem to align with your role anymore,

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so you can't have the impact that you

want through your role, , that it might

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be that you have outgrown that role.

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, and so maybe your values around challenge

or stretch or, creativity might not

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be being met through your role.

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It could be that it means you're

needing to move up and get more.

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challenge either through a

leadership role or some different,

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, project , or area of work.

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That could mean that it's either

an internal or external, , shift.

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If your values personally don't align

with your role or organization anymore,

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because let's face it, , sometimes we

choose our careers early in our lives.

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So in our twenties, and

as we grow and develop as

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individuals, our values can change.

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And it might be that they no longer

feel like they're being fulfilled

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those values for you personally.

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That might mean that actually

what you really need is a career

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change of some description.

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So you can find something that

aligns with your values even more.

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Doing that values check in

piece is super important.

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, and then you can also do a passion check

in, which is aligned with the values, but

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you can think about what's happened to my

passion, my energy, my drive for my job.

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Is it still there?

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When did it dissipate if it's not there?

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Can I get it back?

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What's, missing from it?

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Doing this kind of diagnostic is helpful

at helping you make the right decision.

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, and then what you can do is you can

start to talk to people internally.

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So you could talk to your boss, , because

generally, and if you're a boss yourself,

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if you're a manager yourself, you will

know you don't want to lose good people.

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You want to keep them.

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And if it's possible, your boss might

have some creative ideas about what

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would give you a stretch challenge.

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In your existing role or organization.

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Similarly, you can talk to HR.

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HR don't want to lose good people either.

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, and they might be able to see

other openings or opportunities

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elsewhere in the organization.

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Or if it's a global organization,

other, , parts of the business

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where you could be successful.

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Or if you have a mentor, it

could be a great thing to be

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able to bounce around with them.

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, what's going to be the right

thing for you to do right now.

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And if you don't have a mentor, it could

be that's part of the missing piece.

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And you might be thinking,

actually, I need to find a

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mentor as part of this process.

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Or a coach that could be another option

as well And then what can also be helpful

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is to put a date in your calendar to

make the decision so that this doesn't

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drag on and on and you're feeling like

just never gonna get to this point where

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i'm clear about what I want to do So

setting yourself a deadline of this day.

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I'm going to make a decision It can be

really helpful And then when you've got

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that decision, you want to then get clear

about your criteria for the next thing.

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And doing the work I've just talked you

through, that diagnostic piece, can be

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helpful at understanding the criteria for

your next role, whether that's internally

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or externally, because you don't just

want to move to something without having

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thought about what the elements it's got

to have for it to be the right next thing

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for you, because you don't want to just go

for the, Oh, it's new, it'll be exciting.

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And then in six months time, be back

to where you were right now in terms of

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the boredom or challenge, , getting

that criteria, clear is super important.

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And if you are thinking, okay, I want

to go for an internal promotion or I

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want to go externally, you need to think

about the job search piece or the self

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promotion piece internally and setting

aside time to actually invest in that

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because we all know, , job searching

or laying the groundwork foundation

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for promotion will require time and

energy and headspace to do that.

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, it's important to be clear about, okay,

if I want this to be successful, I'm

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going to have to set aside time for it.

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, if you, , need help with any of this,

cause you don't have to do it all

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on your own, either the making the

decision or preparing for promotion

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or, , job search, , a career coach.

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And I often work with clients around these

areas can be super helpful at just helping

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you make the progress you need to make and

making the right choices for you in terms

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of what's right for you in your career.

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, so if that's going to be something you're

interested in, do message me and we can

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set up a call to have a chat about it.

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I want to leave you with a quote,

which I think is quite helpful.

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That no decision is ever made.

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It's the wrong decision.

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It's the decision you made at the time.

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Because sometimes we get so hung

up on it's got to be the right

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decision that we get paralyzed and

we can't make that decision at all.

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Remember there's no wrong decision, , it's

just the decision you made at the time.

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But if you do that prep work that I've

just talked you through, then , you

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know the decision you're going to make

is going to be as robust as it can be.

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To recap for you, do that diagnostic.

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Take yourself through all those

questions about what's possible, what's

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missing, what do my values telling me?

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What's my energy telling me?

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What's my passion telling me?

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What's possible in the

organization I'm currently in?

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And then thinking about

who do I need to talk to?

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What's my date for making a decision?

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What do I need to get clear about in terms

of what's going to happen next for me?

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And where do I., plan out my preparation.

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I hope that's been useful for you.

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And you're a bit clearer now about how

to work out, whether you should stay

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or whether you should leave your job.

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This episode is also available as a video.

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You can watch it on LinkedIn live

and I'll put a link in the show

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notes to that particular episode.

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And of course, if you're over on

LinkedIn, Do you connect with me?

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Thank you so much for listening

to this episode of the Unstuck

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and Unstoppable podcast.

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I have lots of free resources you

can access on my website, ww.career

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tree coaching.co uk, and I'll

also put links in the show notes.

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If you found this episode

helpful, then please subscribe

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so you don't miss the next one.

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And please do share it with a

friend and leave me a review

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and I will personally thank you.

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Remember, you're capable of more

than you know, shine brightly.

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Lead boldly and unlock the

extraordinary potential within you.

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Be unstoppable.